Berkshire Theater Blog: Load-In-- It's Crunch Time

Today we finished up the Finale of In the Heights. With opening night exactly one week away, nothing else makes me feel more like the show is really happening! So far we have finished all the major dance numbers and blocking, with only a handful of small scenes left. Rehearsals have been very productive and exhausting at the same time recently. Mr. Howard broke the numbers into sections, for example, Carnaval del Barrio had 16 of them, and progressed through them in order and strung up a complete scene.

From 6 to 8 pm tonight, we started what is called "load-in", which consisted of setting up backstage, props, costumes, hanging up posters, taping chords, safety procedures, etc. One crew arranged the hair products and posters in Daniella's salon, while the other set up the merchandise in the bodega. Some people cleaned up the green room and organized all the costumes. Headshots printed out everyone's portraits that they have taken.

Dom Sayler, our technical director, is the low-key mastermind of the backstage. He directed everyone to do their assigned crew work and made sure everything ran smoothly. Meanwhile, Mr. Howard and the stage managers have been writing light cues for the production relentlessly.

The cast and crew had our first team dinner tonight: it was a quality bonding time for the ensemble to feel more like a close group and be show-ready.

Yours Truly, from on average 6 hours a day of theater,
Maggie